Yeah, it's kind of weird that Woj, who used to have a Johns Hopkins Uni. sig line, is comparing, you, Bill
[WS:] FYI, Johns Hopkins campus is surrounded by a slum, which BTW is a big problem for the university, because it makes it difficult to attract international students and fellows. Most of the faculty and staff also live outside Baltimore (which is a bone of contention between the city and JHU) and those who do not like long commutes simply move to greener pastures. Quality of life is an increasingly important consideration in deciding where people want to work or study.
I live in the city near the campus since I came to JHU in 1992 mainly because I like city living. As a result of that experience, my attitude toward the underclass changed quite substantially. As they say, familiarity breeds contempt, and a conservative is a liberal who's been mugged. I am not a conservative, to be sure, but I have no sympathy toward the lumpen either. I do not hate, judge or condemn them, I just do not want be near them.
To say it differently, I do not particularly care what life styles people choose to pursue or not to pursue and for what reasons as long as these life styles do not impinge on mine. I try not to judge people for how they live or what they do unless they harm others or animals, but I am not trying to save them either unless somebody asks me for help. I do not like particular life styles - not only those of the lumpen, but of the suburban middle class as well - but generally do not rebuke people for pursuing these life styles. I just do not want to be a part of it. However, it gets on my nerves when someone implies that I am a bad person because I do not like these life styles.
So it is really that simple - if somebody implies that I or people like me are morally suspect because they do not subscribe to a particular cultural trope about particular lifestyles, I am perfectly capable of paying back in kind. If I hear someone saying "fuck the yuppies" I feel like saying "fuck the lumpen."
Wojtek